Method and system for providing user-generated content via a gateway

ABSTRACT

A method and system are provided in which a broadband gateway may be operable to handle at least one physical layer connection to at least one corresponding network access service provider. The broadband gateway may receive content and associated metadata through the at least one network access service provider. The broadband gateway may determine, based on the received metadata and on one or more rules associated with a user profile, whether to enable access to at least a portion of the received content by a device connected in a peer-to-peer configuration with the broadband gateway. The broadband gateway may communicate to such device an indication that at least a portion of the received content is available for sharing. The metadata may comprise rating information, copyright information, language information, and privacy rules. The rating information may be modified based on information received by the broadband gateway from other users.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATIONS/INCORPORATION BY REFERENCE

This application is a continuation of U.S. application Ser. No.12/982,091, filed Dec. 30, 2010, entitled “METHOD AND SYSTEM FORPROVIDING USER-GENERATED CONTENT VIA A GATEWAY,” which claims thebenefit of and priority to U.S. Provisional Application No. 61/351,696,filed Jun. 4, 2010, entitled “METHOD AND SYSTEM FOR USE OF BROADBANDGATEWAYS,” both of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein intheir entireties.

This application also makes reference to:

-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/355,377 filed on Jan. 16, 2009;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/355,413 filed on Jan. 16, 2009;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/355,480 filed on Jan. 16, 2009;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/395,383 filed on Feb. 27, 2009;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/982,321 filed on Dec. 30, 2010;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/982,355 filed on Dec. 30, 2010;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/981,971 filed on Dec. 30, 2010;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/981,993 filed on Dec. 30, 2010;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/982,216 filed on Dec. 30, 2010;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/984,433 filed on Dec. 30, 2010;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/982,205 filed on Dec. 30, 2010;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/982,353 filed on Dec. 30, 2010;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/981,966 filed on Dec. 30, 2010;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/982,453 filed on Dec. 30, 2010;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/982,172 filed on Dec. 30, 2010;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/982,429 filed on Dec. 30, 2010;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/981,990 filed on Dec. 30, 2010;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/982,442 filed on Dec. 30, 2010;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/982,000 filed on Dec. 30, 2010;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/982,010 filed on Dec. 30, 2010;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/982,022 filed on Dec. 30, 2010;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/381,986 filed on Dec. 30, 2010;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/982,236 filed on Dec. 30, 2010;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/982,213 filed on Dec. 30, 2010;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/982,166 filed on Dec. 30, 2010;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/982,340 filed on Dec. 30, 2010;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/982,073 filed on Dec. 30, 2010;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/982,501 filed on Dec. 30, 2010;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/982,206 filed on Dec. 30, 2010;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/982,440 filed on Dec. 30, 2010;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/982,171 filed on Dec. 30, 2010;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/982,223 filed on Dec. 30, 2010;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/982,305 filed on Dec. 30, 2010;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/982,477 filed on Dec. 30, 2010;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/982,331 filed on Dec. 30, 2010;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/982,036 filed on Dec. 30, 2010;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/982,196 filed on Dec. 30, 2010;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/982,391 filed on Dec. 30, 2010;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/982,405 filed on Dec. 30, 2010;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/981,753 filed on Dec. 30, 2010;-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/982,414 filed on Dec. 30, 2010;    and-   U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/981,733 filed on Dec. 30, 2010.

Each of the above stated applications is hereby incorporated herein byreference in its entirety.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

Certain embodiments of the invention relate to broadband access. Morespecifically, certain embodiments of the invention relate to providinguser-generated content via a gateway.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

As the use of home networks grow in popularity, the capabilities oftoday's gateway devices may not be adequate to support certainapplications and content to be provided through such networks.

Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditionalapproaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, throughcomparison of such systems with the present invention as set forth inthe remainder of the present application with reference to the drawings.

BRIEF SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

A system and/or method for providing user-generated content via agateway, as set forth more completely in the claims.

Various advantages, aspects and novel features of the present invention,as well as details of an illustrated embodiment thereof, will be morefully understood from the following description and drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF SEVERAL VIEWS OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary communication systemthat comprises a home network serviced by a broadband gateway, inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIGS. 2A and 2B are block diagrams that illustrate exemplary broadbandgateways, in accordance with embodiments of the invention.

FIG. 3A is a block diagram that illustrates exemplary utilization ofmetadata associated with received content, in accordance with anembodiment of the invention.

FIG. 3B is a diagram that illustrates exemplary obtaining metadatainformation utilizing the software agent of FIG. 3A, in accordance withan embodiment of the invention.

FIGS. 4A-4C are diagrams that illustrate exemplary user interfaceinformation presented based on rating information and user profile, inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 5 is a diagram that illustrates exemplary embedding of ratinginformation in one or more data streams utilizing the software agent ofFIGS. 3A and 3B, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 6 is a diagram that illustrates content sharing by a broadbandgateway, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart that illustrates exemplary steps for contentsharing, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart that illustrates exemplary steps for handlingrating information in metadata associated with received content, inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart that illustrates exemplary steps for insertingrating information into content, in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

Certain embodiments of the invention can be found in a method and systemfor providing user-generated content via a gateway. In accordance withvarious embodiments of the invention, a broadband gateway may becommunicatively coupled to one or more devices and may also be operableto handle at least one physical layer connection to at least onecorresponding network access service provider. The broadband gateway mayreceive content and metadata associated with the content through the atleast one network access service provider. The broadband gateway maydetermine, based on the received metadata and on one or more rulesassociated with a user profile, whether to enable access to at least aportion of the received content by a device in a peer-to-peerconfiguration with the broadband gateway. The broadband gateway maycommunicate to such a device an indication that at least a portion ofthe received content is available for sharing. The metadata may compriserating information, copyright information, language information, andprivacy rules. The rating information may be modified or updated basedon information received from other users. The rating information maycomprise one or more descriptors that convey a rating value.

In accordance with other embodiments of the invention, a method andsystem may be provided in which the broadband gateway may assignmetadata to content, the metadata being embedded into one or more datastreams. The content may be user-generated content, for example. Thebroadband gateway may communicate, through the at least onecorresponding network access service provider, the content and theassigned metadata to a device connected in a peer-to-peer configurationwith the broadband gateway. The metadata assigned by the broadbandgateway may comprise one or more of rating information, copyrightinformation, language information, and privacy rules.

To perform some of the operations described herein, the broadbandgateway may utilize a software agent, or other like software programand/or application. For example, the broadband gateway may enable asoftware agent to be executed that is able to obtain and/or extractcontent, rating information, copyright information, languageinformation, privacy rules, and/or other content-related informationfrom downloaded data and/or from data streams. Similarly, the softwareagent may be utilized to embed and/or insert content, ratinginformation, copyright information, language information, privacy rules,and/or other content-related information into data and/or streams ofdata, for example. In this regard, a rating value defined by a viewer ora user, or by multiple viewers or users, may be assigned, aggregated,and/or attached by the broadband gateway to content, including touser-generated content. In some instances, the input from separateusers, such as friends and family, for example, may be aggregated into asingle rating value that may be assigned to the content. In otherinstances, the input from separate users may be utilized to modify orupdate a rating value associated with a particular content.

FIG. 1 is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary communication systemthat comprises a home network serviced by a broadband gateway, inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 1,there is shown a home network 100 a, a plurality of distributionnetworks 110, a plurality of network access service providers 120, and aplurality of content providers 130. The home network 100 a may beserviced by a broadband gateway 102.

The content providers 130 may generate, capture, and/or package content,such as multimedia content, for example, that may be distributed to endusers. Content originating from the content providers 130 may bedistributed to end users (e.g., consumers) by the network access serviceproviders 120. The term “network access service provider” as utilizedherein, may be distinguished from the more generic term “serviceprovider” that may refer to services other than providing physical layeraccess to a network. An entity that functions as a network accessservice provider, however, may also provide content and/or servicesother than network access. In some instances, an entity that functionsas a network access service provider may generate, capture, and/orpackage content, such as multimedia content, for example, that may bedistributed to end users. The content received through the networkaccess service providers 120 may comprise, for example. programmingscheduling information and/or metadata associated with such programming.In some instances, the metadata may originate in a server, such as a webserver, associated with one or more of the content providers 130.

The network access service providers 120 may comprise various entitiesand/or networks that provide access to content and/or services usingdifferent access technologies, such as multimedia, television, Internet,phone, Ethernet, multimedia over coax alliance (MoCA), passive opticalnetwork (PON), and/or cellular services, for example, to a plurality ofend users. The end users may utilize devices that may be configured tosupport the necessary networking and/or communication infrastructuresand/or standards. For example, end users may utilize cellular devices orsmartphones, personal computers (PCs), servers, and/or set-top boxes.Exemplary network access service providers may comprise, for example,cellular service providers (e.g., AT&T, Verizon), cable television(CATV) providers (e.g., Comcast, RCN, Cox), satellite televisionproviders (e.g., DirectTV, DISH Network), Internet service providers(ISPs), digital subscriber line (DSL) providers, WiMAX providers, and/orplain old telephone service (POTS) providers. In an exemplary embodimentof the invention, the broadband gateway 102 may enable connecting to aplurality of network access service providers 120 to facilitatereceiving content originating from one or more of the content providers130. When more than one network access service provider 120 providesaccess to content and/or services to the broadband gateway 102, eachnetwork access service provider 120 may do so through a separatephysical layer access. In an embodiment of the invention, a separatephysical layer access may be enabled in the broadband gateway 102 byhaving a separate network interface for each network access serviceprovider 120 within the broadband gateway 102.

The plurality of distribution networks 110 may comprise one or morenetworks that may be operable to enable wireless and/or wiredcommunication among a plurality of entities based on one or morenetworking and/or communication infrastructures. In this regard, theplurality of distribution networks 110 may be utilized to enabledistributing content generated by the content providers 130 and/or bythe network access service providers 120 to end users. The networkconnectivity available via the plurality of distribution networks 110may be based on one or more communication standards and/or protocols.The plurality of distribution networks 110 may comprise, for example,the Internet 110 a, a CATV network 110 b, a satellite television (TV)network 110 c, a wireless local area network/wide area network (LAN/WAN)110 d, and/or a cellular network 110 e.

The Internet 110 a may comprise a system of interconnected networks toenable exchange of data between a plurality of nodes, based on one ormore networking standards, including, for example, the Internet Protocol(IP). For example, the Internet 110 a may enable connectivity among aplurality of private and public, academic, business, and/or governmentnodes and/or networks. The physical connectivity may be provided in theInternet 110 a via, for example, the Public Switched Telephone Network(PSTN), copper wires, fiber-optic cables, wireless interfaces, and/orother protocols and/or standards-based interfaces. The transportfunctionality may be performed in the Internet 110 a based on, forexample, one or more protocols, such as the Transmission ControlProtocol/IP (TCP/IP), for example. The CATV network 110 b may comprisesuitable distribution nodes, systems, and/or subnetworks that may enableforwarding of communication between CATV providers and a plurality ofcable-TV consumers. For example, the CATV network 110 b may comprise anetwork of fiber optics and/or coaxial cables for use in CATVbroadcasts. The satellite TV network 110 c may comprise suitabledistribution nodes, systems, and/or subnetworks that may enablecommunication of satellite TV broadcast by satellite TV providers to aplurality of consumers. For example, the satellite network 110 c maycomprise a plurality of orbiting satellite nodes and/or one or moreterrestrial centers in a satellite-TV system.

The LAN/WAN network 110 d may comprise suitable logic, circuitry,interfaces, and/or code that may be operable to enable implementation ofone or more wired and/or wireless LAN or WAN standards and/or protocols.Exemplary WAN technologies comprise, for example, WiMAX-based networks.Exemplary LAN technologies may comprise, for example, those based onIEEE 802.11 standards, including, for example, WiFi-based networks. Thecellular network 110 e may comprise suitable logic, circuitry,interfaces and/or code that may be operable to enable communication viaone or more cellular technologies. Exemplary cellular technologies maycomprise Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), wideband CDMA (WCDMA),CDMA1000, High-Speed Downlink Packet Access (HSDPA), Global System forMobile Communications (GSM), General Packet Radio Services (GPRS),Enhanced Data Rates for Global Evolution (EDGE), and/or Universal MobileTelecommunication System (UMTS). The cellular network 110 e maycomprise, for example, a plurality of control and/or switching nodes,and a plurality of base stations that enable transmission and/orreception of cellular based communications between the cellular network110 e and cellular capable devices.

The home network 100 a may correspond to a location that may comprise aplurality of devices which may be serviced and/or managed by thebroadband gateway 102. In this regard, the location may be a residence(e.g., home, apartment), a small business, a school, a library, and/orother like settings in which users may want to obtain access to serviceand/or to content provider networks. The broadband gateway 102 may beutilized in the home network 100 a to provide connectivity between thehome network 100 a and the network access service providers 120, thedistribution networks 110, and/or the content providers 130.

The broadband gateway 102 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry,interfaces, and/or code that may be operable to provide connectivitybetween one or more devices in a home network, such as the home network100 a, and a plurality of external networks. For example, the broadbandgateway 102 may support configuring and/or using a plurality ofbroadband connections 108 to the distribution networks 110. Thebroadband connections 108 may comprise wired and/or wireless connectionsbetween the broadband gateway 102 and the distribution networks 110,which may enable communication between the broadband gateway 102 and thenetwork access service providers 120. The broadband gateway 102 mayoperate as an interface device that may allow one or more network accessservice providers and/or content providers to interact with variousdevices in the home network. In this regard, the broadband gateway 102may enable communication with each of the network access serviceproviders 120 through separate interfaces. That is, each network accessservice provider 120 from the plurality of network access serviceproviders 120 may interface with the broadband gateway 102 through anetwork interface that is separate and/or different from a networkinterface associated with each of the other network access serviceproviders 120.

A single broadband gateway 102 may be operable to handle multiplephysical layer access connections, where a physical layer may refer toan OSI layer 1. The connections may provide access to one or more of thedistribution networks 110. The distribution networks 110 may be owned,operated, leased, or otherwise associated with different network accessservice providers 120. For example, one network access service provider120 may provide network access to the broadband gateway 102 through acable television connection over coaxial cabling associated with theCATV network 110 b. In another example, a different network accessservice provider 120 may provide network access to the broadband gateway102 through a DSL connection over twisted-pair cabling associated withthe Internet 110 a. In some instances, the broadband gateway 102 may beoperable to concurrently communicate over several physical layerconnections associated with the multiple network access serviceproviders 120.

The broadband gateway 102 may be operable to perform and/or providevarious services that may pertain to enabling and/or facilitatingreception of multimedia content. The content may be delivered throughone or more network access services providers 120 and their associatednetworks, which may include at least some portions of the distributionnetworks 110. For example, the broadband gateway 102 may be operable toperform such operations as network access related processing (e.g.,PHY/MAC, transport layer processing), encryption and/or decryption, userand/or account authentication, and/or at least some of video and/oraudio processing operations that may be needed for consumption ofmultimedia content. The broadband gateway 102 may communicate withvarious devices in the home network 100 a, using wired and/or wirelesscommunication links.

Devices serviced by, and/or connected to the broadband gateway 102 maycomprise content consuming devices and/or other, non-content consuminghousehold or home devices that may be operable to interact with thebroadband gateway 102. For example, the broadband gateway 102 mayservice, and/or may communicate with a plurality of home devices 104a-104 j in the home network 100 a. The home devices may comprise, forexample, one or more of a television 104 a, a laptop computer 104 b, adetector 104 c (e.g., a smoke detector, a carbon monoxide detector, asecurity alarm), a computer and/or server 104 d, a mobile phone 104 e, aspeaker 104 f, an AM/FM radio 104 g, a phone 104 h, an appliance 104 i(e.g., refrigerator), and a digital video recorder (DVR) or personalvideo recorder (PVR) 104 j. The broadband gateway 102 may interact witheach of the home devices 104 a-104 j via links 106 a-106 j, which may besupported by the broadband gateway 102 and the corresponding homedevice. For example, the link 106 a between the broadband gateway 102and the television 104 a may comprise a High-Definition MultimediaInterface (HDMI) cable and/or 60 GHz WiGig wirelessconnection/interface. The link 106 b may comprise, for example, a wiredEthernet link, a wireless Ethernet link, a Universal Serial Bus (USB)link, or an IEEE 1394 link. The link 106 c may comprise, for example, atwo-wire link or a wireless link. The link 106 d may comprise, forexample, a wired Ethernet link, a wireless Ethernet link, a USB link, oran IEEE 1394 link. The link 106 e may comprise, for example, a wirelessEthernet link, a USB link, or a cellular link. The link 106 f maycomprise speaker wire and/or a wireless link. The link 106 g maycomprise, for example, AM and/or FM radio transmissions broadcastreceived using the broadband gateway 102. The link 106 h may comprise,for example, a phone line. The link 106 i may comprise, for example, awired or wireless Ethernet link. The link 106 j may comprise, forexample, a wired or a wireless link.

In the exemplary embodiment of the invention illustrated in FIG. 1,although the devices 104 a-104 j, which may be communicatively coupledto only the broadband gateway 102, are shown, the invention may not beso limited. Accordingly, the devices 104 a-104 j, which may becommunicatively coupled to multiple broadband gateways in a local orhome network, may be implemented without departing from the spirit andscope of various embodiments of the invention.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, a plurality of home networks 100 b, . . . ,100 n, may also be connected to the distribution networks 110. Thesehome networks 100 b, . . . , 100 n may operate in substantially the samemanner as the home network 100 a. By having more than one home networkconnected to the distribution networks 110, various applications, suchas peer-to-peer communication and/or data aggregation operations may bepossible by utilizing the broadband gateways 102 in the home networks.Each of the home networks 100 a, 100 b, . . . , and 100 n may be asource of content, such as user-generated content, for example, whichmay be communicated to any one of the other home networks. In thisregard, content and/or other information in a broadband gateway 102 maybe shared, including user-generated content, by enabling access to suchcontent by another broadband gateway 102, or similar device, that islocated in the same home network or in a different home network.

In operation, the broadband gateway 102 may be utilized as an interfacedevice that may allow one or more of the network access serviceproviders 120 and/or the content providers 130 to interact with variousdevices in a home network, such as the home network 100 a. The broadbandgateway 102 may be operable to perform and/or provide various servicesthat may pertain to enabling and/or facilitating reception of content,such as multimedia content, for example. The broadband gateway 102 maydistribute the received content to one or more devices in the homenetwork 100 a for consumption. The broadband gateway 102 may also beoperable receive content and metadata associated with the contentthrough one or more of the corresponding network access serviceproviders 120. The received content may be in the form of downloadabletelevision programs from content providers such as Hulu and/or similarcontent providers, for example. The received content may also be in theform of streaming content such as movies from Netflix, YouTube, and/orother similar content providers, for example. Moreover, the receivedcontent may be downloaded and/or streamed user-generated contentreceived from a source in any one of the home networks 100 b, . . . ,100 n that is in a peer-to-peer configuration with the broadband gateway102.

The received metadata may be in one of several standardized and/orproprietary formats that the broadband gateway 102 may be operable tosupport. The format of the received metadata may depend on the type ofcontent and/or the source of the content. The received metadata maycomprise one or more of rating information, copyright information,language information, privacy rules, and other content-relatedinformation.

The rating information that is associated with the received content maycomprise one or more descriptors that convey at least a rating value.For example, descriptors such as the syntax utilized in a Region RatingTable (RRT) may be comprised within the received metadata to conveyinformation about the rating value or values that are applicable to theprograms and/or the content comprised within a particular transportstream and/or data stream received by the broadband gateway 102. Inanother example, descriptors such as the syntax elements utilized inCode Point Registry for MPEG-2-based standards, or other similar syntaxelements, may be utilized to convey metadata information, such as ratinginformation, associated with a particular content.

The broadband gateway 102 may determine, based on the received metadataand on one or more rules associated with a user profile, whether toenable access from a device, such as another broadband gateway (e.g.,broadband gateways 102 in home networks 100 b, . . . , 100 n), to atleast a portion of the received content. The device may be connected ina peer-to-peer configuration with the broadband gateway 102. Thebroadband gateway 102 may communicate to the device an indication thatat least a portion of the received content is available for sharing.Once such an indication is provided, the device may access and/orretrieve the content from the broadband gateway 102.

The rating information may be modified in the broadband gateway 102based on information received from one or more devices, such as one ormore other broadband gateways 102. For example, users of one or more ofthe other broadband gateways 102 in the home networks 100 b, . . . , 100n, may provide rating information that may be utilized to modify orupdate a rating value associated with a particular content.

The broadband gateway 102 may be operable to assign or attach metadatato content, such as user-generated content, for example. The broadbandgateway 102 may embed or insert the metadata into one or more datastreams. The broadband gateway 102 may communicate, through at least onenetwork access service provider 120, the content and the assignedmetadata to a device connected in a peer-to-peer configuration with thebroadband gateway. Such device may be another broadband gateway 102 inany of the home networks 100 b, . . . , 100 n, for example.

In some embodiments, the broadband gateway 102 may obtain the ratinginformation from the received metadata and may determine, based on theobtained rating information, whether to update a content directory inthe broadband gateway 102 to reflect the received content. Thedetermination may be based on one or more rules, such as rating rules,for example, associated with a user profile.

The broadband gateway 102 may be operable to assign rating informationto content and may generate metadata associated with the content. Thegenerated metadata may comprise the assigned rating values. As describedabove, the rating information may comprise descriptors, such as syntaxelements, that convey a certain rating value and/or other informationassociated with the content. The broadband gateway 102 may communicate,through one or more of the corresponding network access serviceproviders 120, the content and the generated metadata to a device thatis in a peer-to-peer configuration with the broadband gateway 102, suchas devices that are part of any one of the home networks 100 b, . . . ,100 n. The broadband gateway 102 may embed, insert, and/or attach theassigned rating information into one or more data streams associatedwith the generated metadata and/or the content.

FIG. 2A is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary broadband gateway,in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 2A,there is shown a more detailed view of an exemplary architecture of thebroadband gateway 102 described above with respect to FIG. 1. Thebroadband gateway 102 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, code,and/or interfaces that may be operable to provide connectivity betweenone or more networks, such as the distribution networks 110, forexample, and one or more devices in a home network, such as the homedevices 104 a-104 j in the home network 100 a. Access from the broadbandgateway 102 to the distribution networks 110 may be provided through oneor more of the network access service providers 120.

The broadband gateway 102 may operate as an interface device that allowsone or more network access service providers 120 and/or contentproviders 130 to interact with various devices in the home network 100a, such as the home devices 104 a-104 j. Moreover, when more than onenetwork access service provider 120 is utilized to provide access, thebroadband gateway 102 may handle each of network access serviceproviders 120 through a separate physical layer access.

The broadband gateway 102 may comprise suitable hardware and/or softwareto provide some or all of the functions and/or operations of one or moreof a modem, a router, and a switch. The modem functions and/oroperations may be those of a DSL modem, a cable modem, or a wirelesscable modem, for example. The router functions and/or operations may bethose of a wireless router, for example. The switch functions and/oroperations may be those of a network switch, or a local area network(LAN) switch, for example. In some instances, the broadband gateway 102may communicate with the various devices in the home via more than onehome network.

The broadband gateway 102 may comprise one or more modules. Each ofthese modules may comprise hardware, software, or a combination thereofthat may be utilized to perform various operations associated with thebroadband gateway 102. In an embodiment of the invention, the broadbandgateway 102 may comprise a provider interface module 202, a processormodule 204, a memory module 206, and a client network interface module208. The modules in the broadband gateway 102 may communicate with oneor more of the other modules through one or more buses and/orconnections 205. In some instances, the broadband gateway 102 may besuch that the various modules listed above may be distributed overmultiple devices. In such instances, the buses and/or connections 205may enable communication between the various modules across the multipledevices. Moreover, the modules listed above are provided by way ofillustration and not of limitation. Other configurations and/orarchitectures of the broadband gateway 102 may also be implemented. Forexample, the broadband gateway 102 may be a virtual gateway that issetup in a network by utilizing virtual machines (VMs) and/ornext-generation (NG) data centers.

The provider interface module 202 may comprise suitable logic,circuitry, code, and/or interfaces that may be operable to receive dataand/or to send data through one or more of the network access serviceproviders 120, for example. The data received and/or sent may beassociated with content from the content providers 130 and/or from thenetwork access service providers 120. The provider interface module 202may be operable to support multiple communication protocols, standards,and/or data transport technologies. As illustrated in FIG. 2A, theprovider interface module 202 may be operable to interface with one ormore of the network access service providers 120. In an embodiment ofthe invention, the provider interface module 202 may be operable tointerface with N of the network access service providers 120. Theprovider interface module 202 may be communicatively coupled to thevarious network access service providers 120 via a plurality ofbroadband connections 108 described above with respect to FIG. 1.

The processor module 204 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, code,and/or interfaces that may be operable to process data received and/orsent through one or more of the network access service providers 120,and/or data received from and/or sent to one or more devices in the homenetwork 100 a. In this regard, the processor module 204 may comprise oneor more portions that are suitable to handle certain types of data suchas video data and/or audio data, for example. For example, the processormodule 204 may comprise a core processor (not shown), a video processor(not shown), and an audio processor (not shown).

The processor module 204 may be operable to perform operationsassociated with processing content and metadata received by thebroadband gateway 102. The content and the metadata may be received fromdata that is downloaded and/or streamed to the broadband gateway 102.The processor module 204 may be utilized to obtain information, such ascopyright information, language information, and/or privacy rules, forexample, which may be embedded, inserted, and/or attached to thereceived metadata. The processor module 204 may be utilized to obtainother information, such as rating information, for example, which may beincluded in the received metadata. The processor module 204 may utilizethe rating information that is obtained from the received metadata toupdate a content directory stored in the memory module 206. Once thecontent directory is updated, the processor module 204 may generate auser interface, such as an Electronic Programming Guide (EPG) or anInteractive Programming Guide (IPG), for example, which may becommunicated to a home device to present the updated content directoryinformation to a user.

The processor module 204 may be operable to determine whether to makethe content received accessible to other devices connected to thebroadband gateway 102, including devices connected in a peer-to-peerconfiguration with the broadband gateway 102. Such determination may bebased on the received metadata associated with the received contentand/or on one or more rules associated with a user profile. That is, auser of the broadband gateway 102 may provide a set of rules that enablecontent sharing with other users. When new content is received, theprocessor module 204 may determine whether such content is to be sharedby considering the characteristics of the content and/or the rules setby the user.

The processor module 204 may also be operable to assign ratinginformation to content and to generate metadata associated with thecontent. In this regard, the generated metadata may comprise theassigned rating information. The processor module 204 may embed, insert,and/or attach the assigned rating information into one or more datastreams associated with the generated metadata. In some instances, theassigned rating information may be aggregated to other ratinginformation associated with the content. The rating information assignedby the processor module 204 may comprise one or more descriptors thatconvey a rating value. Other information, such as copyright information,language information, and/or privacy rules, for example, may beembedded, inserted, and/or attached to the generated metadata by theprocessor module 204.

To perform the various operations described above, the processor module204 may enable the execution of one or more software agents, or otherlike software programs and/or applications. For example, a softwareagent may be executed that is able to obtain and/or extract content,rating information, copyright information, language information, privacyrules, and/or other content-related information from data received bythe broadband gateway 102. Similarly, the same or other software agentmay be utilized to embed, insert, and/or attach content, ratinginformation, copyright information, language information, privacy rules,and/or other content-related information into data that is to becommunicated by the broadband gateway 102.

The memory module 206 may comprise suitable logic, circuitry, code,and/or interfaces that may be operable to store data utilized in theoperations of the broadband gateway 102. For example, the memory module206 may be utilized to store configuration data, parameters, deviceinformation, tracking and/or monitoring information, securityinformation, and intermediate processing data, for example. The memorymodule 206 may comprise storage media that may be integrated in thebroadband gateway 102 and/or may be removable such as a removablestorage device.

The memory module 206 may be operable to store content and/orinformation obtained from metadata associated with the content. Forexample, the memory module 206 may store content, rating information,copyright information, language information, privacy rules, and/or othercontent-related information from data received by the broadband gateway102. The memory module 206 may store content and/or information to beembedded, inserted, and/or attached to metadata associated with thecontent. For example, the memory module 206 may store content, ratinginformation, copyright information, language information, privacy rules,and/or other content-related information for data to be communicated bythe broadband gateway 102.

The memory module 206 may be utilized to store one or more userprofiles. A user profile may comprise a set of preferences and/or rulesfor a particular user. The user profile may indicate a particular user'spreferences with respect to the type and/or capabilities of the devicesin which that user receives, displays, and/or reproduces content. Theuser profile may indicate preferences with respect to the quality, type,genre, and/or cost of content for that particular user. The user profilemay also indicate security preferences such as the type of actions,tasks, features, and/or operations that the user may allow a downloadedapplication to perform. Moreover, the user profile may indicaterestrictions as to the type of content that may be made available. Forexample, the user profile may be utilized to filter out or removeviolent content, mature or adult content, and/or content that otherwisethe user considers to be inappropriate. In this regard, the user profilemay have time and/or location information that may indicate when and/orin which of the home devices 104 a-104 j is content to be filtered outor removed from user access. The preferences and/or rules of the userprofile may be utilized with the operations of a software agent or otherlike software program and/or application that may be executed by theprocessor module 204.

The user profile may also include a set of rules that indicate whethercontent available in the broadband gateway 102 (e.g., in the memorymodule 206) is to be made accessible to devices outside the home networkassociated with the broadband network 102. Such devices may compriseother devices in other home networks, including devices connected in apeer-to-peer configuration with the broadband gateway 102. The set ofrules may indicate the type of content that may be shared. The set ofrules may also indicate the devices and/or users with which certaincontent is to be shared. The user profile may also include rulesassociated with aggregating, modifying, and/or updating ratinginformation based on information received from other users. In thisregard, the user profile may indicate which devices and/or which usersof such devices are allowed to provide information related to ratinginformation.

The memory module 206 may be utilized to store one or more contentdirectories. A content directory may comprise information, includingprogramming scheduling information, related to content that may beavailable to the broadband gateway 102 through one or more of thenetwork access service providers 120. A content directory may alsocomprise information related to content that may be available to thebroadband gateway 102 from one or more of the home devices 104 a-104 jand/or related to content that is locally available in the memory module206. The information associated with a content directory may be updatedbased on content that is received and/or made available to the broadbandgateway 102. The information in a content directory may be utilized withthe operations of a software agent or other like software program and/orapplication that may be executed by the processor module 204.

The client network interface module 208 may comprise suitable logic,circuitry, code, and/or interfaces that may be operable to receive datafrom and/or send data to one or more devices in the home network. Theclient network interface module 208 may be operable to support multiplecommunication protocols, standards, and/or data transport technologies.

FIG. 2B is a block diagram illustrating an exemplary broadband gateway,in accordance with another embodiment of the invention. Referring toFIG. 2B, there is shown the broadband gateway 102 with the providerinterface module 202 comprising N separate network interfaces 203-1, . .. , 203-N, each of which is associated with one of the N network accessservice providers 120. In this manner, the broadband gateway 102 mayseparately interface with the network access service providers 120. Thenetwork interfaces 203-1, . . . , 203-N may enable the broadband gateway102 to handle separate physical layer access for each of the N networkaccess service providers 120. For example, the broadband gateway 102 mayinterface with each of a cellular service provider, a CATV provider, asatellite television provider, an ISP, and/or POTS provider through aseparate network interface, each of which comprises suitable logic,circuitry, code, and/or interfaces to enable physical layer access.

FIG. 3A is a block diagram that illustrates exemplary utilization ofmetadata associated with received content, in accordance with anembodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 3A, there is shown thebroadband gateway 102 described above. Also shown are a software agent300 and a content processing application 310, both of which may beexecuted on the processor module 204. The software agent 300 may beutilized to obtain and/or extract content, rating information, copyrightinformation, language information, privacy rules, and/or othercontent-related information from data received by the broadband gateway102 through the provider interface module 202, for example. The softwareagent 300 may be utilized to embed, insert, and/or attach content,rating information, copyright information, language information, privacyrules, and/or other content-related information into data that is to becommunicated by the broadband gateway 102 through the provider interfacemodule 202, for example.

The content processing application 310 may be utilized to processcontent and/or information associated with the content. In one example,the content processing application 310 may be utilized to generate agraphical user interface (GUI) that may be communicated to one or moreof the home devices 104 a-104 j through the home network interfacemodule 208. In this regard, the content processing application 310 mayprepare the GUI based on whether certain content is suitable for aparticular user. For example, the content processing application 310 mayinclude, as part of the program schedule to be presented by the GUI,information about content that has a certain rating that makes suchcontent appropriate for a particular user. Whether such content may beincluded in the program schedule may be determined by the contentprocessing application 310 and/or by the software agent 300.

In some instances, the content processing application 310, and/or otherlike software program and/or application, may be utilized to generate aGUI or other interface that may be presented to a user to enable theuser to provide input regarding the type of rating that may be assignedto content available at the broadband gateway 102. In this regard, thecontent may be user-generated content that the user may wish to sharewith others through the network access service providers 120, forexample. For example, a device in any one of the home networks 100 b, .. . , 100 n may be in a peer-to-peer configuration with the broadbandgateway 102 and may be a source and/or a recipient of user-generatedcontent.

Although a single software agent has been shown with respect to FIG. 3A,the invention need not be so limited. In some embodiments, instead ofusing a single software agent, multiple software agents may be executedon the processor module 204 to perform the various operations describedherein. That is, some operations may be performed by one software agentwhile other operations may be performed by other software agents. Forexample, information extraction operations and information embeddingoperations may be performed by different software agents. In anotherexample, content sharing operations may be performed by another softwareagent. In yet another example, ratings-related operations may beperformed by one software agent while other metadata information may behandled by other software agent or agents. Moreover, multiple softwareagents may be executed concurrently on the processor module 204.

FIG. 3B is a diagram that illustrates exemplary obtaining of metadatautilizing the software agent of FIG. 3A, in accordance with anembodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 3B, there is shown thesoftware agent 300 of FIG. 3A receiving data from a plurality of sources350. The data may be received by the software agent 300 through theprovider interface module 202 and/or may be stored in the memory module206 before being received by the software agent 300. The software agent300 may process the received data, which may comprise content andmetadata associated with the content. When the data is received inmultiple data streams, the software agent 300 may be operable to handlethe various encapsulating layers of data that may be received by thebroadband gateway 102.

The received metadata may be comprised in one or more locations and/orlayers. For example, the received metadata may be within a header of avideo packet in an elementary data stream, in descriptors associatedwith an MPEG-2 transport layer, and/or in a Real-time Transport Protocol(RTP) packet. In another example, watermarking information may beembedded in the video data itself. In yet another example, copy controlinformation may be embedded in a transport layer or other similar layer.

The software agent 300, and/or other like software program and/orapplication, may be utilized to separate the received content from thereceived metadata and may extract information in the received metadata.Once separated from the received metadata, the received content may beprocessed and may be referred to as edited content, for example. Asdescribed above, the received metadata may be in any one of a pluralityof standardized and/or proprietary formats that may be supported by thesoftware agent 300. The information extracted from the received metadatamay comprise rating information and/or other information, such ascopyright information, language inforamtion, privacy rules, or the like.

In some embodiments, the software agent 300, and/or other like softwareprogram and/or application, may determine whether certain content is tobe made available by the broadband gateway 102 for sharing with adevice, such as a device in any one of the home networks 100 b, . . . ,100 n, including other broadband gateways 102. The software agent mayutilize the received metadata and/or one or more rules associated with auser profile to determine whether certain content is to be shared. Whencontent sharing is to be enabled, the software agent may generate anindication that is to be communicated to the device with which contentis to be shared. The indication may comprise a signal or may be embeddedin a signal, a packet, a frame, or other like data structure.

In some embodiments, the software agent 300, and/or other like softwareprogram and/or application, may determine a rating value or valuesassociated with the received content based on the rating informationthat is extracted from the received metadata. For example, the softwareagent 300 may obtain the rating value or values from one or moredescriptors in the rating information. The descriptors may be in theform of syntax elements that convey the rating value or valuesassociated with the received content.

In some embodiments, the software agent 300, and/or other like softwareprogram and/or application, may modify extracted rating informationbased on information received from one or more devices, such as one ormore other broadband gateways 102. For example, users of one or moredevices in the home networks 100 b, . . . , 100 n, may provide ratinginformation that may be utilized to modify or update a rating valueassociated with a particular content.

In some embodiments, the software agent 300, and/or other like softwareprogram and/or application, may be utilized to filter out or remove aparticular content from the content that may be made available to acontent directory based on the rating value or values associated withthat particular content. In such instances, the software agent 300 mayobtain a set of preferences and/or rules related to the contentrestrictions from a user profile. The software agent 300 may utilizethese preferences and/or rules to determine whether the content isappropriate for a particular user and whether to update informationassociated with the content directory to reflect the availability of thereceived content. When the content is appropriate and the contentdirectory is updated, the broadband gateway 102 may update a program orcontent schedule graphically displayed to a user through a userinterface to reflect the availability of the received content.

FIG. 4A is a diagram that illustrates an exemplary user interfaceinformation being presented based on rating information and userprofile, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Referring toFIG. 4A, there is shown a user A that is presented with a GUI 420 beingdisplayed on the television 104 a, which is connected to the broadbandgateway 102 through the link 106 a. The broadband gateway 102 may beaware that the current user is the user A from input provided by theuser A and/or from other input received by the broadband gateway 102,such as sensor input, for example, that identifies the current user asthe user A.

In this exemplary scenario, the software agent 300 described above mayextract or obtain rating information related to content received by thebroadband gateway 102. The broadband gateway 102 may have receivedcontent A, B, C, D, E, and F, for example, from one or more sourcesthrough the network access service providers 120. The rating informationand a user profile associated with the user A may be utilized todetermine whether the content received is appropriate and is to beincluded in the content directory. In this instance, as illustrated bythe GUI 420, it is determined that content A, B, D, and F areappropriate or in accordance with the preferences and/or rulesassociated with the user A, and consequently, such content is includedin the content directory and presented to the user A through the GUI420. Content C and E, however, may have a rating value or values thatmake such content inappropriate for the user A at the current time. Theuser A may make a selection of content to consume based on the contentbeing presented with the understanding that the broadband gateway 102may have filtered out or removed content that may have been deemedinappropriate by the user A.

FIG. 4B is a diagram that illustrates another example of user interfaceinformation being presented based on rating information and userprofile, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Referring toFIG. 4B, there is shown a user B that is presented with a GUI 430 beingdisplayed on the television 104 a. The broadband gateway 102 may beaware that the current user is the user B from input provided by theuser B and/or from other input received by the broadband gateway 102,such as sensor input, for example, that identifies the current user asthe user B.

In this exemplary scenario, the software agent 300 may extract or obtainrating information related to content A, B, C, D, E, and F, for example,received by the broadband gateway 102. The rating information and a userprofile associated with the user B may be utilized to determine whetherthe content received is appropriate and is to be included in the contentdirectory. In this instance, as illustrated by the GUI 430, it isdetermined that content A, B, C, and E are appropriate or in accordancewith the preferences and/or rules associated with the user B, andconsequently, such content is included in the content directory andpresented to the user B through the GUI 430. Content D and F, however,while appropriate for the user A as shown in FIG. 4A, may have a ratingvalue or values that make such content inappropriate for the user B atthe current time. The user B may make a selection of content to consumebased on the content being presented with the understanding that thebroadband gateway 102 may have filtered out or removed content that mayhave been deemed inappropriate by the user B.

FIG. 4C is yet another diagram that illustrates an example of userinterface information being presented based on rating information anduser profile, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.Referring to FIG. 4C, there is shown the user A that is presented with aGUI 440 being displayed on a television 404 a, which is connected to thebroadband gateway 102 through a link 406 a. There is also shown the userB that is presented with a GUI 450 being displayed on a television 404b, which is also connected to the broadband gateway 102 through a link406 b. The televisions 404 a and 404 b may be in different locations ofa home or residence and may be part of a home network such as the homenetwork 100 a described above. The broadband gateway 102 may be awarethat the current users are the user A and the user B from input providedby the users and/or from other input received by the broadband gateway102, such as sensor input, for example, that identifies the currentusers.

As described above with respect to FIGS. 4A and 4B, the software agent300 may extract or obtain rating information related to content A, B, C,D, E, and F, for example, received by the broadband gateway 102. Therating information and a user profile associated with the users A and Bmay be utilized to determine whether the content received is appropriateand is to be included in the content directory. In this instance, asillustrated by the GUIs 440 and 450, it is determined that content A, B,D, and F are appropriate or in accordance with the preferences and/orrules associated with the user A, while content A, B, C, and E areappropriate or in accordance with the preferences and/or rulesassociated with the user B. Consequently, content A, B, D, and F ispresented to the user A through the GUI 440 and content A, B, C, and Eis presented to the user B through the GUI 450. Each of the users maymake a selection of content to consume based on the content beingpresented with the understanding that the broadband gateway 102 may havefiltered out or removed content that may have been deemed inappropriateby the user.

In an embodiment of the invention, the broadband gateway 102 may supportdifferent content directories for different users or a single contentdirectory for all users. When a single content directory is supported,the software agent 300 and/or the content processing application 310 maybe utilized to present to a user, information from the content directoryrelated to content that may be deemed appropriate by that user.

In some embodiments, because the broadband gateway 102 may modify orupdate rating information, including rating values, based on informationprovided by other users (e.g., friends, family), the content that ismade available to users A and B through GUIs in the various scenariosdescribed above may change based when such modification or updateoccurs. In this regard, the content directory may be dynamically updatedas a result of modifications or updates to rating information.

FIG. 5 is a diagram that illustrates exemplary embedding of ratinginformation in one or more data streams utilizing the software agent ofFIGS. 3A and 3B, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention.Referring to FIG. 5, there is shown the software agent 300 receivingcontent, such as user-generated content, for example. The software agent300 may also receive information from a user profile and/or input from auser to generate metadata associated with the content. The metadatagenerated by the software agent 300 may comprise rating information,such as descriptors that indicate a rating value or values assigned tothe content, and/or copy control information associated with thecontent, which may comprise watermarking, for example. The softwareagent 300 may determine the rating value or values assigned to thecontent based on information comprised within the content, theinformation from the user profile, and/or the user input. In someinstances, the metadata generated by the software agent 300 may compriseinformation such as copyright information, language information, privacyrules, or other like content-related information.

The metadata generated by the software agent 300 may be embedded,inserted, and/or attached to one or more of a plurality of data streams510. For example, the generated metadata may be comprised in header of avideo packet in an elementary data stream, in descriptors associatedwith an MPEG-2 transport layer, and/or in a Real-time Transport Protocol(RTP) packet. In another example, watermarking information may beembedded in the video data itself. In yet another example, copy controlinformation may be embedded in a transport layer or other similar layer.

FIG. 6 is a diagram that illustrates content sharing by a broadbandgateway, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Referring toFIG. 6, there is shown the home networks 100 a, 100 b, . . . , 100 ndescribed above with respect to FIG. 1. The broadband gateway 102 in thehome network 100 a may enable content to be shared with one or moredevices in the home networks 100 b, . . . , 100 n. Such devices mayinclude the broadband gateways 102 in the home networks 100 b, . . . ,100 n. Moreover, such devices may be connected to the broadband gateway102 in the home network 100 a in a peer-to-peer configuration.

When content is to be shared, the broadband gateway 102 in the homenetwork 100 a may generate one or more indications that may becommunicated to the appropriate devices to inform those devices thatcontent is available for sharing. In this regard, the broadband gateway102 in the home network 100 a may make different content available todifferent devices based on the metadata associated with the contentand/or sharing rules. When the broadband gateway 102 in the home network100 a generates and/or assigns metadata to certain content, such contentmay be made available to one or more devices in the home networks 100 b,. . . , 100 n based on the metadata and/or on sharing rules.

In some embodiments, users of one or more devices in the home networks100 b, . . . , 100 n may provide information to the broadband gateway102 in the home network 100 a that may be utilized to modify or updaterating information associated with certain content. The modification orupdate of rating information may be based on rules provided by a userprofile, for example.

FIG. 7 is a flow chart that illustrates exemplary steps for contentsharing, in accordance with an embodiment of the invention. Referring toFIG. 7, there is shown a flow chart 700 associated with the operation ofa broadband gateway that may enable communication with a plurality ofdevices, wherein the broadband gateway is operable to handle a pluralityof physical layer connections to a plurality of corresponding networkaccess service providers. In this regard, the broadband gateway may bethe broadband gateway 102 described above, the plurality of device maybe the home devices 104 a-104 j described above, and the network accessservice providers may be the network access service providers 120described above.

At step 710, the broadband gateway 102 may receive data through one ormore data streams, the data comprising content and associated metadata.The content and the metadata may be received by the broadband gateway102 from one or more of the home devices 104 a-104 j and/or through theone or more of the corresponding network access service providers 120.

At step 720, the broadband gateway 102 may determine whether to enable adevice, such as a device in another home network, to access at least aportion of the received content. The broadband gateway 102 may utilize asoftware agent, such as the software agent 300 described above, to makethe determination of whether to enable sharing of content with otherdevices. The devices with which content may be shared may include thebroadband gateways 102, or other like devices, in the other homenetworks.

At step 730, the broadband gateway 102 generate one or more indicationsto inform the appropriate devices that content is available for sharing.The indications may be communicated to the appropriate devices through asignal generated by the broadband gateway 102. A software agent, such asthe software agent 300, may be utilized to generate the indicationsand/or the signals associated with the indications. Once the appropriatedevices are notified, the devices may automatically, and/or through userinput, obtain the received content from the broadband gateway 102.

FIG. 8 is a flow chart that illustrates exemplary steps for handlingrating information in metadata associated with received content, inaccordance with an embodiment of the invention. Referring to FIG. 8,there is shown a flow chart 800 associated with the operation of abroadband gateway that may enable communication with a plurality ofdevices, wherein the broadband gateway is operable to handle a pluralityof physical layer connections to a plurality of corresponding networkaccess service providers. In this regard, the broadband gateway may bethe broadband gateway 102 described above, the plurality of device maybe the home devices 104 a-104 j described above, and the network accessservice providers may be the network access service providers 120described above.

At step 810, the broadband gateway 102 may receive content and metadataassociated with the content through one or more of the correspondingnetwork access service providers 102, wherein the received metadata maycomprise rating information associated with the received content. Therating information may comprise one or more descriptors that convey arating value. The broadband gateway 102 may receive one or more datastreams that comprise the received content and the received metadata. Insome instances, the received content may comprise user-generatedcontent. Moreover, the received content and the received metadata may bereceived from a source, through the one or more of the correspondingnetwork access service providers 120, wherein the source may be in apeer-to-peer configuration with the broadband gateway 102.

At step 820, the broadband gateway 102 may obtain the rating informationfrom the received metadata. In some instances, the broadband gateway 102may verify one or both of the received content and the received metadatabefore obtaining the rating information from the received metadata. Forexample, the broadband gateway 102 may analyze copy control informationand/or watermark information to determine that the received contentand/or the received metadata have not been altered and/or tamperedbefore proceeding to obtain the rating information.

At step 830, the broadband gateway may determine, based on the obtainedrating information, whether to update a content directory in thebroadband gateway 120 to reflect the received content. The determinationof whether to update the content directory may be based on one or morerules associated with a user profile. In this regard, the determinationmay be performed, at least in part, by the processor module 204, whilethe content directory and/or the user profile may be stored in thememory module 206. The operations associated with the steps 810, 820,and/or 830 may be performed by, for example, the software agent 300described above, or other like software program and/or application.

At step 840, when the content directory is updated to reflect thereceived content, the broadband gateway 102 may generate a userinterface based on the updated content directory. The user interface maybe generated by, for example, the content application 310 describedabove or other like software program and/or application. At step 850,the broadband gateway 102 may communicate the user interface to one ormore of the home devices 104 a-104 j such that information associatedwith the received content may be presented to a user.

FIG. 9 is a flow chart that illustrates exemplary steps for insertingrating information into content, in accordance with an embodiment of theinvention. Referring to FIG. 9, there is shown a flow chart 900associated with the operation of a broadband gateway that may enablecommunication with a plurality of devices, wherein the broadband gatewayis operable to handle a plurality of physical layer connections to aplurality of corresponding network access service providers. In thisregard, the broadband gateway may be the broadband gateway 102 describedabove, the plurality of device may be the home devices 104 a-104 jdescribed above, and the network access service providers may be thenetwork access service providers 120 described above.

At step 910, the broadband gateway 102 may assign rating information tocontent. The content may be content received by the broadband gateway102 from one or more of the home devices 104 a-104 j and/or contentreceived through the one or more of the corresponding network accessservice providers 120. The rating information may comprise one or moredescriptors that convey a rating value.

At step 920, the broadband gateway 102 may generate metadata associatedwith the content, the generated metadata may comprise the assignedrating information. In this regard, the broadband gateway 102 may embedthe assigned rating information into one or more data streams associatedwith the generated metadata.

At step 930, the broadband gateway 102 may communicate, through one ormore of the corresponding network access service providers 120, thecontent and the generated metadata to a device in a peer-to-peerconfiguration with the broadband gateway 102.

Certain embodiments of the invention may comprise a system in which abroadband gateway, such as the broadband gateway 102, may becommunicatively coupled to a plurality of devices, such as the homedevice 104 a-104 j, for example. The broadband gateway 102 may beoperable to handle at least one physical layer connection to at leastone corresponding network access service provider, such as at least oneof the network access service providers 120. The at least one physicallayer connection may comprise a plurality of physical layer connectionsand the at least one corresponding network access service provider maycomprise a plurality of corresponding access service providers, and eachof the plurality of physical layer connections may correspond to arespective one of the plurality of corresponding access serviceproviders.

The broadband gateway 102 may comprise one or more processors and/orcircuits that are operable to receive content and metadata associatedwith the content through the at least one corresponding network accessservice provider 120. The received metadata may comprise ratinginformation associated with the received content. The rating informationmay comprise one or more descriptors that convey a rating value. Thecontent and the associated metadata may be received through the providerinterface module 202 of the broadband gateway 102. The providerinterface module 202 may receive one or more data streams that comprisethe received content and the received metadata. In some instances, thereceived content may comprise user-generated content. Moreover, thereceived content and the received metadata may be received from asource, through the at least one corresponding network access serviceprovider 120, wherein the source may be in a peer-to-peer configurationwith the broadband gateway 102.

The processor module 204, for example, may be operable to obtain therating information from the received metadata. In some instances, theprocessor module 204 may verify one or both of the received content andthe received metadata before obtaining the rating information from thereceived metadata. For example, the processor module 204 may analyzecopy control information and/or watermark information to determine thatthe received content and/or the received metadata have not been alteredand/or tampered before proceeding to obtain the rating information. Theprocessor module 204 may be operable to obtain the rating informationfrom metadata that is formatted in one of a plurality of formatssupported by the processor module 204.

The processor module 204 may be operable to determine, based on theobtained rating information, whether to update a content directory inthe broadband gateway to reflect the received content. The determinationof whether to update the content directory may be based on one or morerules associated with a user profile. The content directory and/or theuser profile may be stored in the memory module 206. The processormodule 204 may support the operations described above by enabling theexecution of a software agent, such as the software agent 300, or otherlike software program and/or application.

When the content directory is updated to reflect the received content,the processor module 204 may generate a user interface based on theupdated content directory. The user interface may be generated by, forexample, the content application 310 described above, or other likesoftware program and/or application, executing on the processor module204. The processor module 204 and the home network interface module 208may be operable to communicate the generated user interface to one ormore of the home devices 104 a-104 j such that information associatedwith the received content may be presented to a user.

Certain embodiments of the invention may comprise a method and a systemin which the processor module 204 of the broadband gateway 102 mayassign rating information to content. The content may compriseuser-generated content, for example. The processor module 204 maygenerate metadata associated with the content. The generated metadatamay comprise the assigned rating information. The processor module 204and the provider interface module 202 of the broadband gateway 102 maybe utilized to communicate, through the at least one correspondingnetwork access service provider 120, the content and the generatedmetadata to a device that is connected in a peer-to-peer configurationwith the broadband gateway 102.

Another embodiment of the invention may provide a non-transitory machineand/or computer readable storage and/or medium, having stored thereon, amachine code and/or a computer program having at least one code sectionexecutable by a machine and/or a computer, thereby causing the machineand/or computer to perform the steps as described herein for providinguser-generated content via a gateway.

Accordingly, the present invention may be realized in hardware,software, or a combination of hardware and software. The presentinvention may be realized in a centralized fashion in at least onecomputer system or in a distributed fashion where different elements maybe spread across several interconnected computer systems. Any kind ofcomputer system or other apparatus adapted for carrying out the methodsdescribed herein is suited. A typical combination of hardware andsoftware may be a general-purpose computer system with a computerprogram that, when being loaded and executed, controls the computersystem such that it carries out the methods described herein.

The present invention may also be embedded in a computer programproduct, which comprises all the features enabling the implementation ofthe methods described herein, and which when loaded in a computer systemis able to carry out these methods. Computer program in the presentcontext means any expression, in any language, code or notation, of aset of instructions intended to cause a system having an informationprocessing capability to perform a particular function either directlyor after either or both of the following: a) conversion to anotherlanguage, code or notation; b) reproduction in a different materialform.

While the present invention has been described with reference to certainembodiments, it will be understood by those skilled in the art thatvarious changes may be made and equivalents may be substituted withoutdeparting from the scope of the present invention. In addition, manymodifications may be made to adapt a particular situation or material tothe teachings of the present invention without departing from its scope.Therefore, it is intended that the present invention not be limited tothe particular embodiment disclosed, but that the present invention willinclude all embodiments falling within the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A method, comprising: receiving, in a broadbandgateway, received content, wherein the broadband gateway is configuredto interface with the at least one network access service providerthrough at least one physical layer connection and is configured toservice a home network comprising viewing devices for viewing thereceived content received from the broadband gateway via the homenetwork; and using, in the broadband gateway, information received fromone or more of the devices to provide a program rating, wherein theprogram rating is provided within a header of a video packet in anelementary data stream, in descriptors associate with an MPEG-2transport layer, or in a real-time transport protocol packet.
 2. Themethod of claim 1, wherein the broadband gateway provides the ratingvalue as a modification of a rating provided in first metadata providedwith the received content to the broadband gateway.
 3. The method ofclaim 2, further comprising embedding the rating value into second datametadata provided by the broadband gateway with the received content toat least one of the viewing devices.
 4. The method of claim 3, whereinthe second metadata further comprises at least one of copyrightinformation, language information, or a privacy rule.
 5. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising determining, using the program rating and onone or more rules associated with a profile for a device of the devices,whether to enable access to at least a first portion of the receivedcontent by the device connected in a peer-to-peer configuration with thebroadband gateway.
 6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:updating a content directory based on the second metadata and on aplurality of rules associated with a user profile; and generating a userinterface based on the content directory.
 7. The method of claim 1,further comprising: embedding by the broadband gateway water markingdata in the received content, the received data being video data.
 8. Themethod of claim 1, further comprising: verifying one or both of thereceived content and received metadata before using, in the broadbandgateway, the information received from the one or more of the devices toprovide the program rating.
 9. A system, comprising: one or moreprocessors, one or more circuits, or any combination thereof, the one ormore processors, one or more circuits, or any combination thereof beingoperable to be used in a broadband gateway, the broadband gateway beingconfigured for servicing a home network comprising a plurality ofdevices for viewing received content, the broadband gateway beingconfigured for communication with the devices and one of a plurality ofnetwork access service providers, the one or more processors, the one ormore circuits, or any combination thereof, being operable to: receivethe received content and received metadata associated with the receivedcontent, the received content and received metadata being received fromat least one of the plurality of network access service providers andcomprising water marking data embedded in video data or copy controldata embedded in a transport layer; determine whether the receivedcontent or the received metadata has been altered using the watermarking data or the control copy data and obtaining before a receivedrating value in the metadata if the received content or the receivedmetadata has not been altered; and determine, based on the rating valueand on one or more rules associated with a profile for one of thedevices, to update a content directory to reflect the received contentin the broadband gateway for one of the devices in response to thereceived rating value and a profile for the one of the devices.
 10. Thesystem of claim 9, wherein the one or more processors, the one or morecircuits, or any combination thereof, being further operable to:modifying the rating value in the received metadata based on informationreceived from a device connected in a peer-to-peer configuration at thebroadband gateway, wherein the rating value is modified by the broadbandgateway to provide a modified rating value, wherein the modified ratingvalue is provided in generated metadata, the generated metadata beingprovided by the broadband gateway, wherein the modified rating value andthe received rating value are directed to an appropriateness of thereceived content and are associated with the received content.
 11. Thesystem of claim 9, wherein the user profile comprises one or more rulesdefining at least one of a content preference associated with quality,type, genre, or cost.
 12. The system of claim 10, wherein the one ormore processors, the one or more circuits, or the combination thereof,are operable to extract the received content and the received metadatafrom one or more data streams received by the broadband gateway andembed the modified rating value into the generated metadata at thebroadband gateway.
 13. The system of claim 9, wherein the receivedmetadata comprises copyright information, language information, and aprivacy rule.
 14. The system of claim 10, wherein the generated metadatacomprising the modified rating value is provided with the receivedcontent in at least one data stream for at least one of the devices atthe broadband gateway and by the broadband gateway.
 15. The system ofclaim 9, wherein the one or more processors, the one or more circuits,or the combination thereof, are further operable to: update a contentdirectory based on the received metadata and on the one or more rulesassociated with the device profile; and generate a user interface basedon the updated content directory for a device of the devices associatewith the device profile.
 16. The system of claim 9, wherein the one ormore processors, the one or more circuits, or the combination thereof,are operable to communicate to the device connected in the peer-to-peerconfiguration with the broadband gateway an indication that at least asecond portion of the received content is available for sharing.
 17. Asystem, comprising: a broadband gateway operable to communicate with aplurality of devices for viewing received content, wherein the broadbandgateway comprises a first interface for a network access serviceprovider and a second interface for a plurality of devices, thebroadband gateway being configured for communication with the devicesand the network access service providers, the broadband gateway beingconfigured to determine whether received content or received metadatahas been altered before receiving a rating value using copy controlinformation or watermark information.
 18. The system of claim 17 whereinthe devices are mobile phones.
 19. The system of claim 17, wherein thebroadband gateway is configured to update a content directory inresponse to received metadata for the received content and one or morerules associated with a device profile and generate a user interfacebased on the updated content directory for a device of the devicesassociate with the device profile.
 20. The system of claim 17, whereinthe receiving metadata is provided with the received content in at leastone data stream for at least one of the devices at the broadband gatewayand by the broadband gateway.